The Reason For Hannibal's Coming Home

This changed when Quintus Fabius Maximus was elected dictator. He shadowed Hannibal’s movements, limiting him and picking off foraging parties and scouts. This strategy became known as Fabian Tactics, and it has been used by generals such as George Washington and Barclay de Tolly to pull victory from what looks like certain defeat. Electing Fabius dictator was one of the most important decisions of the war because it saved Rome from many possible defeats. After his time was up, he gave the power back to the

First up, the foreign invasions that capsized Rome. According to document D, it states what the weak and lazy roman army was up against. Extremely vicious warriors who slaughtered their enemies on horseback, with almost no weaknesses, who pillaged the roman empire until it was nothing but ruins.That was just one group of invaders. According to document C, there were 3 others that were also extremely difficult to fight. And even worse for Rome’s sake, they came from every direction! This is why Rome had no chance.

The Second Punic War was heavily dependent on critical analysis and strategic maneuvers, so obtaining the right information was crucial in winning the war. Hannibal, one of the most influential Carthage leaders, tried to deter the Roman citizens to supporting his military to increase his number and build a stronger force. For instance, during the time Fabius was the dictator, the people of Rome disagreed with his tactic of avoiding Hannibal. This information allowed Hannibal to act and try to persuade the Romans. Hannibal, during the Battle of Cannae, used information gathered from previous battles to build and execute his plan. Hannibal was aware that the Romans were going to stick to their usual tradition and use their block formation and figured out a way to use this to his advantage. At the battle of Trebia, Hannibal realized that his center line lacked strength, so he planned on using this weakness to draw the Romans into the center ultimately, and it

The Roman infantry in the center continued to engage Hannibal’s forces. The repeated attacks on Hannibal’s infantry forced them from a convex to a concave formation. Roman leadership, anticipating breaking the Carthaginian line, continued to push troops into the center. Roman

Followed by the victory that the Romans decided withdraw to central Italy and await Hannibal who began to cross the Apennines in the spring of 217. "Hannibal having now got all his forces together continued the descent, and in three match from the precipice just described reached flat country. He had lost many of his men by the hands of the enemy in the crossing of rivers and on the march in general, and the precipices and difficulties of the Alps had cost him not only many men, but a far greater number of horses and mules.” The whole march from New Carthage had taken him five months and he spent fifteen days in crossing the Alps and now. when this boldly descended into Italy.” The mountains were vigorous against Hannibal and his army, but he was still determined to defeat

Carthage, however, was able to establish a new base of influence in Spain beginning in 237 BC. This was due to their leadership of the powerful general Hamilcar Barca. In later years, leadership fell under Hamilcar’s son-in-law Hasdrubal. Hamilcar Barca made his younger son Hannibal swear a blood oath against Rome when Hannibal was a younger boy. Upon Hasdrubal’s death in 221 BC, Hannibal took command of the Carthaginian forces in Spain. Two years later, Hannibal marched his army across the Ebro River into Saguntum declaring war on Rome. Hannibal and his troops, 90,000 infantry and 12,000 cavalry, marched from Spain across the Alps and into Italy. They won battles over Roman troops at Tiinus, Trebia, and Trasimene. Hannibal’s invasion of Rome reached its peak at Cannae in 216 BC. He used his cavalry to surround a Roman army twice the size of his own and inflict massive casualties. Rome, however, stood right back up to the Carthaginians. The Carthaginians lost hold in Italy as Rome won victories in Spain and North Africa under the general Publius Cornelius Scipio. In 203 BC, Hannibal’s forces were forced to abandon the struggle in Italy in order to defend North Africa. Hannibal’s losses in the Second Punic War put an end to Carthage’s empire in the western Mediterranean. This left Rome in complete control of Spain and allowing Carthage to retain its territory in North Africa. Carthage was forced to give up

The battle had begun, there was blood, sweat, dead people, anger, rage, bones, and killing lastly of all. there was no ending to this battle, both clans fought until they died, but one of the things that made the Athens clan push harder, was that they thought, “there is no greater deed then to die for your city

Imagine the roman military with the hot libeccio winds blowing sand and rocks and whatever in there face a grave disadvantage on top of them already knowing they were surrounded and at a disadvantage. The romans had adopted a strategy called the Fabian strategy, of nonengagement, all the roman consuls all of which who lacked significant battle experience thought this was a good idea. Deciding to meet them at highly converted grain depot at Cansium they were hoping to end the great Carthaginian invasion of Italy in one blow without any problems. They thought overwhelming a force with sheer numbers was enough to win a battle, but little did they know that small blunder was actually the biggest mistake in there lives with a huge outcome. So, the battle begins the romans pour out into a deep and narrow formation hoping to overrun their army with sheer power and weight from the push this technique is not very useful in war. Hannibal knowing about this method set up a formation that was very elastic in the center were gallic and Spanish infantry, with African troops on their flanks and cavalry acting as the wings f the whole formation. The engaging Carth army was in a crescent shaped that way the romans had to flow into them and would be

When people think of the Roman Empire they think about the Romans excellence in everything. The Romans had their flaws, however, and it was on full display during the second Punic war when a specific battle called Cannae took place. This battle which took place on August 2, 216 highlights an important fight in the war between the Carthage Army led by Hannibal and the superpower in Rome led by officials Lucius Paullus and Gaius Varro (Cannae, 17). In what is considered to be one of the greatest battles in all of history, Hannibal was able to defeat the Roman Empire through the incentives his army had to defeat Rome, the help Hannibal received from other generals and regions, and most importantly through the tactical positioning and deployment of his soldiers (Gutenburg). Although the Roman Empire was able to win the entire second Punic war despite losing this particular battle, historians look back on Battle of Cannae and study it because of the brilliance Hannibal’s army displayed despite being outnumbered and less knowledgeable in war(Gutenburg).

The Romans had a fatal flaw: they were great in warfare changes but when it came to political changes, they were pretty hard-headed. Their refusal to adapt to political change soon became a major factor in the fall of the Republic and rise of an Empire. Since the Romans were great at warfare, of course that was also a factor in the fall but it wasn’t just war with other countries, it was war within as well. As they

Forced Hannibal to come back and defend us. Lost to the legions

The wise tactics of Hannibal this time were that, they made a convex form, with the pressure of the Romans; it formed a half circle, where the Roman troops entered. The next step of Hannibal was to close that circle and surrounded the Roman troops with the horses and Carthaginians once again with the brilliant strategists of Hannibal win the battle again. There were a lot of deaths in this battle, one battle that Rome could never forget. After the winning of Hannibal, Roman allies switched sides, noticing the real power of Hannibal and his army. Also after the war many cities were in revolt against the Romans, cities such as Sicily and Sardinia.

The first Punic war had been a struggle with the greatest naval power of the Mediterranean, but the second Punic war was to be a conflict with one of the greatest soldiers that the world has ever seen. As a military genius, no Roman could compare with him. If the Romans could have known what ruin and desolation were to follow in the train of this young man of Carthage, they might have hesitated to enter upon this war. (Outlines of Roman History, Chapter 15 - Forum Romanum)

At the end of Hannibal’s career as a military commander of Carthage, a main enemy of Rome, it can be said that his career was a failure as he did not achieve his primary objective, the taking of Rome. However, his military achievements glittered and shone because he struck fear into Rome and he also earned himself a place in the modern world as the father of strategy. Hannibal will always be remembered and regarded as one of the greatest military tacticians and strategists in all of European history and is considered one of the greatest generals of the Ancient World. It was his superior strategy and tactical skills that allowed him to compete with and almost defeat Rome, but this greatness prevented him achieving his ultimate goal, because

Over the next seventeen years Rome fought off the invasion of Hannibal's army in Italy. Hannibal had gained many allies in the Italian peninsula including the Apulians, the Samnites, the